The Road goes ever on and on . . .

H. Derdowskiego str. and port at 07 40 on Sunday morning.

Every year at the end of September Gdynia is becoming film capital of Poland. Thanks to Gdynia Film Centre, Musical Theatre, Multi-screen cinema located within minutes one from another audience have a choice of venues and festival events. This year in main competition there was 17 movies 8 of which were debuts and 2 were second film of their directors. There was also competition of short films and “different look” competition. All together there was 150 films presented along with meetings, industry workshops, book promos etc. Great mood, fantastic experience, top class films. Can’t wait till next one!

Summer has ended. I travelled a bit with my old YASHICA MAT 124g. This is always great experience to look at this square viewfinder and trying not to miss anything important in the frame, gingerly adjusting focus. I used Kodak Portra 400. I love these colours and something “true” in the processed pictures. Pictures where taken by the lakes of Kaszuby and on the Hel peninsula by the Baltic Sea.

Between 17th and 20th August 2017 I took part in Sopot Literary Festival “Literacki Sopot” as volunteer. Fantastic 4 days packed with meetings, performances, discussions, presentations and book fair on site. Leading motive this year was Spanish language literature presenting authors from Europe and South and Central America. Also I would like to mention fantastic team of people who were managing the festival and fellow volunteers. It was such a great time in my city. “Literacki Sopot” 2018 also will be in August as well. Leading motive: France.

Miasto Gdynia po raz czwarty jest organizatorem weekendów literackich. Sobotni program pozwolił mi na udział w rewelacyjnych warsztatch " O książkach w mediach społecznościowych" prowadzonych przez Annę Dziewit - Meller w Gdyńskim Centrum Filmowym. Po południu, w przestronnej sali recepcyjnej Muzeum Miasta Gdyni, przysłuchiwałem się rozmowie trzech profesorów od literatury, panów Grzegorza Leszczyńskiego, Piotra Millati i Ryszarda Koziołka. Temat brzmiał: "Czytaj albo giń!" Następnie w fotelu zasiadł profesor Stefan Chwin a rozmawiała z nim pani Renata Gorczyńska o jego najnowszej powieści "Srebrzysko". W ostatniej dyskusji Anna Dziewit - Meller rozmawiała z reporterem Cezarym Łazarewiczem. To spotkanie zamknęło też Miasto Słowa 2017.

OTHER PLEASURES I love coffee. Its one of my daily treats. I like to drink it, I like to brew it, I like to learn and talk about it. Probably best coffee shop in town. Guys there know exactly what they are serving, and they are always keen to chat about it. Ahh! And set of truly home made cakes (including vegan option). If real coffee is someting you enjoy too, Black and White Coffee is place to go in Gdynia. http://bwcoffee.pl

Gdynia, Poland. Place I am from, place I love. There will be a lot of Gdynia in 2017.

http://audycje.tokfm.pl/podcast/Niepelnosprawni-tez-moga-zeglowac-Z-Marcinem-Dobrowolskim-rozmawia-Karolina-Glowacka/44734

Journey came to an end. I left Australia behind and came home for Christmas. Second part of my travels were very busy. After a week in Hobart, Tasmania, we set off on sailing vessel Tenacious towards Melbourne. We were sailing along wild and remote, west cost of Tasmania. We were anchoring in Bass Strait and then spent a few weeks doing day sailing from Williamstown. That was another opportunity to explore local neighbourhood and beyond. In Williamstown there is Sea Shepherd HQ and for many days we were sharing the quay. On one beautiful evening I had an opportunity to photograph an arrival of their new helicopter. As a way of supporting Sea Shepherd’s great mission, I have donated my pictures of chopper landing, which later have been published on Sea Shepherd Global Facebook site. During my last voyage, before heading home, from Melbourne to Sydney, I was working on assignment for Jubilee Sailing Trust taking pictures showing life on board their sailing ship. It was great experience and very successful time. I’ll present chosen pictures from this assignment on the blog soon. So far please enjoy these photos.

The most recent shots always on both Instagrams: @marcinski82 and @marcinski_mono

I spoke on Radio Gdansk about travel, sailing, my family and why I love so much Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot. If you know Polish please listen and see my pictures on Instagram. Big thank you to Radio Gdansk reporters / jurnalists: Wlodzimierz Raszkiewicz and Sebastian Kwiatkowski! (click link above)

The Road goes ever on and on . . . turned 3 today! It is fun this blog. It is growing slowly.

SEASCAPES Canary Islands may look like boring, cliché tourist destination. Yet there is much more than noisy resorts on the sunny side of these volcanic islands. There are local people cultivating their culture, simple, honest food, mind blowing wines growing on volcanic soil and diverse nature. Los Gigantes, majestic cliffs are marking south - western tip of Tenerife island. Approaching them from seaward provide us with spectacular view. At the bottom, on an islet connected to the mainland there is the lighthouse Punta de Teno warning mariners about the dangerous coast.

Magic, life changing moment happend on 18th December 2015 at 10 20 UTC. Maksymilian George was born. Joy is with us since. Thank God for such a gift. Pictures are telling the rest.

Fylde Coast Cloggers in St. Annes On a rainy Saturday morning in December 2015 Fylde Coast Cloggers gathered in St. Annes to dance. Weather scared the spectators but didn't stop the cloggers. "Fylde Coast Cloggers are a ladies clog morris team, performing both traditional North West Morris dances and garland dances. Based in Lytham, Lancashire UK, the team was founded in 1987(...)" says information on their website: www.fyldecoastcloggers.co.uk To explain what the morris dance is I am quoting the Wikipedia: "Morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may also be wielded by the dancers. In a small number of dances for one or two people, steps are near and across a pair of clay tobacco pipes laid one across the other on the floor". I had an opportunity to accompany Cloggers with my camera thanks to my wife, who has played the violin in the team.

First I've seen Mordor. But history of this place is much brighter than the first impression I had. Wyndham Court is a block of social housing in Southampton. This is post-war brutalist architecture classic. It designe is said to evoke cruise liner or battle ship. Mass of the building is very distinct and can't be unnoticed. The building was designed by Lyons Israel Ellis for Southampton City Council in 1966.

In March I undertook another journey. I moved to London for 3 weeks (yeah, I know, not an unusual activity for a Polish person) and started an intense course on Introduction to Cinematography in Metfilm School in Ealing.